Palestine Week takes back seat to Union elections

Last Monday saw the annual opening of the ´Palestinian Solidarity Week´ hosted by Warwick´s Palestinian Solidarity Society.

Using a variety of film viewings and talks it aspired to raise awareness about the political difficulties that Palestinians have had to face since Israeli occupation, as well as explore a range of possible solutions.

“We believe that this is a key issue in world politics and is completely misrepresented in the media”, said Joel Kinahan, a member of the society’s exec, “It is the biggest longest standing refugee problem in the last fifty years and we feel people should be made more aware about it.”

Speakers included the societies vice president Christos Symeou, Joe Lee, a member and representative of ISM, Chris Rossdale, an prominent participant of the recent sit-in campaign, and Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, president of the only Palestinian university in Jerusalem.

Most talks were focused on the question of what would be the most effective method of helping the Palestinian cause.

All took the view that reform could only be hoped for if the ordinary public of other countries applied enough pressure to force their own governments out of complacency.

“Something major needs to be done and one thing that can be done is to call the national community to more actively involved, and by international community, I mean you! You as students, you as a university, you as in the UK, you as in Europe”, said Dr. Nusseibeh on Friday, who argued the likes of Tony Blair were proving to be somewhat ineffective.

However, the talks also addressed the difficulty of representing the varied voice of supporters within Palestine and internationally.

The general reception was very positive. “It was good to hear people talk about Palestine who had at least been to the area rather then hearing it from people who have only read about it”, said one participant.

“It was interesting to hear the sort of questions people asked after the talks as they were offered different points of view, and the speakers offered a qualified response”, commented another.

However, with many students preoccupied by the SU elections most of the events were undersubscribed.

“I was expecting a room of at least thirty”, laughed Tuesday’s speaker Joe Lee, who presented his talk in a room of eight.

However, by the end of the week exec members were surprised and happy to see one hundred and fifty audience members arrive to watch Dr. Nusseibeh’s talk on whether a democratic Palestinian state is viable.

The mayor of Coventry was in the front row wearing his attire, and more people had questions then Nusseibeh had time to answer.